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Author
Topic: How often do you get blood drawn? (Read 6161 times)

My husband had his first blood draw in mid to late June and his docs are waiting 3 months before doing another one. I'm concerned his docs aren't being as vigilant as they could be, but maybe I'm just an over-concerned wife.

Welcome to the Forums. Honestly, it may be hard to say but it could also be that your husband's number are pretty decent...cd4 and viral load along with some other things. I'm sure one of the other members can give you more information than me. I know when my numbers look good my doc usually schedules me every 3 months. And there is nothing wrong with being concerned about your husband. I suggest you read through some of the other threads. I'm sure you will find some information that could be helpful in understanding what is going on with your husband and this virus.

His CD4 is a low 300 something (I think maybe 319) and his VL was 9000 - he was at 17%. My concern is that he's developing all this "little" problems with his mouth - red spots all over the roof of his mouth. He actually has had thrush for awhile now - that's what made him decide to get tested. He's very obsessed about looking in his mouth and weighing himself every day - several times a day. I'm worried there are things going on that he's not even telling me about. He's very guarded about the whole thing and I never know if I'm getting the whole truth or only bits and pieces.One day he tells me he's going to the doctor to ask them to start him on meds - the next day he tells me he feels like a million bucks and the pomegranate juice & 18 vitamins he's taking must be working miracles.Do you think the doctors would draw again just to put his mind at ease - October is so far away!

Your husband is newly diagnosed and going through ups and downs. The first test is usually setting a baseline so that you can see a trend with future tests, unless the first test is really bad, which is not the case here.

Being newly diagnosed it's very possible that his CD4 may jump back, and 319 is not bad anyway! The VL is low and the doctor is doing the usual thing, waiting 3 months to get a second draw and start getting a trend. Unless there is a dramatic change, you can't really tell much before the 3rd or 4th draw.

It's very tempting to get tested every day, every month, every week, but that doesn't help, he needs to let his body naturally fight the virus, and this takes time before you can actually see how the body reacts.

Taking meds at the beginning of the infection is being talked about now in the scientific community, but there have not been enough studies to really show a serious benefit of doing it that soon. Also, when you start meds, you cannot stop, and you must balance the potential side effects of using meds versus letting your body fight by itself and give it a boost if needed, later, and that could be in 6 months or a couple of years. Adherence, also, is a key to successful treatment, and this has to be discussed with his doctor, because those meds are very timing dependent, and missing doses can lead to virus mutation.

Drawing again may make things worse because as you may know the CD4s go up and down all the time during the course of the day, or show very good numbers and so he may think the pomegranate is the cure.

It is great that you seek the help on those forums, I'm sure many others will have good insight for you. I'm not familiar with thrush so I will let others chime in on that.

Although your husband may be newly diagnosed, his numbers don't really look like he's been newly infected.

What this means in terms of how often his has his blood drawn is that his doctor probably thinks his infection is already into a "stable" stage and checking his blood more often won't yield much new information. As long as he's being monitored at least once every three months, he should be fine.

You haven't mentioned in any of your posts so far, have you been tested? I'm hoping your silence on this aspect means that you tested negative.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

My blood draws were fairly frequent at first, because I was newly infected....it seems the better my numbers are, the longer the period between the draws. If I wanted to test more often I don't think my doctor would mind. In fact, I was consulting with him over the phone a few times when the tests were really close together to avoid office visits. My doctor is cool that way....

I would say that if you want to test earlier than October, contact the doctor....I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem, but you'll never know unless you ask.

When I was living in NYC. they took bloodwork every month..Now i live in NJ and they take blood every 3 months..Boy was i relieved when i didnt have to go every month for bloodwork..Maybe NYC was just milking themedicade system..Iam not sure...

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My husband had his first blood draw in mid to late June and his docs are waiting 3 months before doing another one. I'm concerned his docs aren't being as vigilant as they could be, but maybe I'm just an over-concerned wife.

Hi. It's nice that your Husband has an "overconcerned" partner. There is no one-size-fits-all interval between blood work---depends on many factors, and varies at different times for the same individual patient. Being on top of things might not meet your criteria of "vigilance". It's not like HIV can be knocked out or killed off, so generally a few weeks here or there is of no importance. There's a balance between what can be achieved through intervention and what the body needs to accomplish on its own. I'll get my latest results tomorrow. I am concerned not that my VL will have grown, but by how much it may have grown. After 16+ years with HIV I will still sleep like a baby tonight. Trust me, you guys will get to that point as well. One healthy method of not worrying is doing something positive like walking, dancing, or biking together. Helps the psyche as well as immunity, good for both of you. In answer to your question, I get blood draws every 3-5 months.

I get mine drawn, once every three months.( see below) It didn't start off that way though. As far as weighing oneself, Once a week for me is enough. I weigh myself the same day of the week, on the same scale at approx. the same time. Tell your husband to do that. And then write his weight down on the calendar, and if his weight fluctuates a couple pounds, one way or the other, he shouldn't be concerned about it. I can go up or down to or three pounds from one week to the next, but it usually remains pretty consistant. I've been marking my weight for years now, even before medication.

Is your husband taking something for the thrush. It can be a persistant little bugger to get rid of. If he has been diagnosed with thrush, he should be taking something for it. ( Diflucan-for example)

How many blood test has your husband had? Can you post those results. Viral load, t-cell count and his percentage.

Lately it's been every 2 months or so for labs, and then inbetween that I have blood taken for my thyroid junk and a couple of other things. You'd think I'd be used to it now, but they still have to give me Vitamin Water or orange juice and some crackers afterwards because I get woozy if they take more than one vial. I don't think it's the blood really, because shots/injections do it to me, too. I think I have a needle phobia thing going on.

I don't. Like. Needles. And my veins aren't very visible. My mom always cheerfully remarks that she never has to worry about me becoming an IV drug user on blood-drawing days. =D

This was his first test. We're pretty sure he got it early November, seroconversion occurred early December, and his first blood was drawn mid to late June.CD4 319? (or close to that), VL 9000, 17%(He's more obsessed with the numbers - I'm more obsessed with how he's feeling - mentally and physically)

My labs: every 3 months.Monthly testing: not usually done unless there is a need for an immediate follow-up when a new med(s) are introduce, or lab results show something spiking or dropping continuous or severely--developments of that nature.

My husband had his first blood draw in mid to late June and his docs are waiting 3 months before doing another one. I'm concerned his docs aren't being as vigilant as they could be, but maybe I'm just an over-concerned wife.

I was getting checked every month the first 3 months after diagnosis. Since the numbers were good, the doc switched me to every 3 months.My bf didn't have as good numbers as me, and started treatment, so he had to keep getting checked every month to see if the meds worked. Now that his VL is undetectable, the doc is going for every 3 months for him as well, despite the fact that his CD4 aren't going up.